Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!!!

Well here I am, yeah, I'm still here. Have been working some long hours and haven't had a chance to blog in a while. Marching band season is over and the kids did great! Lakeshore Marching Band - Stevensville took 2nd place in their flight, we're all so proud of them. The next big thing is their France trip to honor D-day anniversary. So today I wanted to talk about our Christmas celebration. Now whether you call it Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or Christmas, it does not matter to me. I just love the idea of the season! It's great to tie a celebration in with your religion but seriously aren't they all just lumped together and tied into some pagan calendar somewhere. I'm pretty sure scholars are correct when they say that Jesus was not born in December. Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. I will hang my wreaths, decorate my tree, wear my Santa earrings, take those extra trips to church praying to my God and rejoicing the birth of his son, at the same time I'll try to spread my holiday cheer like a plaque.

Enough with the politics of this holiday and on with the projects! I have the kitchen pretty stocked up and decorated so I'll start baking tomorrow! For now, let me share with you some interesting little projects I've found and shared on my facebook. Some I've found on pinterest, others I've come across accidentally. So let's dig in!
The first one is a favorite fall back of mine: Trash to Treasure!
Folgers has a link on their website sharing free printables for these cute little canisters.

The top on I color copied a napkin onto printer paper, then cut, corner rounded, and modge podged it onto the canister.

The bottom one is from the Folgers site.

I needed to do these to make cookie containers for Bob's guys at the shop. Now I have to fill them with goodies, and soon!











This next one is also from my trash to treasure collection. Found it on Pinterest! Imagine that. LOL
Save up your pop bottles girls/guys and grab your paint brushes. Now for these I literally base coated the bottles with a white satin interior house paint. The other colors I have in craft paints. Black, white, blue, red, green, yellow, and brown. I custom mixed the pink and the orange for the beaks.
My hands shake and I can't paint a straight line to save my life, but "tole" painting is pretty forgiving in that your lines don't have to be perfect, and cover it with spattering.

Go on over to pinterest and look up bottle penguins.

 

Have to roll! Have got to get up early and go to work. Merry Christmas ya'll. Tomorrow I'll start sharing my Christmas trees. I almost have one in every room!  Almost. Nothing compared to my aunt who has 22 trees in her house. She starts decorating them in October.

 

 

 

Where did the summer go!?

I know it was here, somewhere. I have tan lines to prove it. It appears that summer has left the building. This weekend was the beginning of the fall chores, that will culminate when the snow stakes are set in the driveway.  So far the air conditioners are out of the windows. Two windows are cleaned and plastic is attached in the hopes of keeping some of the winter chill out. The living room set and the front glass is cleaned, screens have been stashed in the basement. Did you know that if you live in a northern climate where the winters are bitterly cold that taking the screens off your windows and giving the glass a good cleaning lets in more sun, allowing those warming rays to enter your house impeded?  I'm attacking this monumental task a few windows at a time. I have to clean the north windows, and two sets on the south side and I'll be all done! What a difference it makes looking through clean glass to the beautiful fall scenery.
It's amazing the variety of views that God grants his people throughout the year. Even the desert has it's seasons. I found while doing some digging in the good book, a verse that should help when you feel the winter blues coming on and when things seem to get worse and the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Don't be down hearted for God promised us right from the very beginning, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8:22 Let that also be a warning to us, that we should all do our part to help keep the earth safe. That's why I love trash to treasure projects so much! We can do our part, and make something beautiful out of it. I plan on going to the Restore in the next day or so, I believe they have glass blocks and I found some really cool holiday projects on pinterest that I'm going to give a try. However the holiday to get ready for now is Halloween and Thanksgiving! As I was digging through stuff I stumbled across some old squished, dusty old tired looking fall wreaths. Let me tell you if you have something like that, don't through them out! Why do you want to go out and buy all new stuff. I forgot to take pictures while I was in the process of revamping them, but I did take pics of them afterwards. I took these two floral decorations and completely dismantled them, put in new oasis and then wrapped new stakes around the flowers and stuck them back in. With all the handling I didn't even have to clean the silk flowers. Put fresh new bows on them and waalaa! My fall wreaths reborn!

 So don't be afraid to destroy those old wreaths, buy some new ribbon, and flowers and go to town! You picked out the wreath from because you loved it. I don't think that ever changes in floral decorations. I love my oval grapevine wreath and my less than perfect cinnamon broom that never smelled to begin with. If new scent is what your after you can buy cinnamon sticks, eucalyptus twigs, or even essential oils. The main thing is be creative and have fun! Until next project!

Headlong into the dog days of summer Project Organization Continues!

Colossians 1:10 So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

What a wonderful inspiration. Yet here I sit, at home, on Sunday, not in church. I feel guilty. I know it's necessary to go to church and fellowship. I am on my own personal journey, trying to grow in the knowledge of God, working on becoming a better person. I love helping others, and my struggle is that I have to remember that sometimes I need to take care of myself. We blur the lines of personal journeys when we are in a family. After being married for over 20 years you sometimes take advantage of the fact that your best friend is right there, and sometimes you forget that you are not "us" that it's important to remain and grow as an individual. Then you get busy in your daily grind and forget that you need quality time together so that "we" become stronger. Life is a great elipse that changes in shape with your days. It flexes, brings some people closer sending other people further away then rolls and changes shape, sending those people away and bringing others closer to the center that is you. You grow by touching others, helping others, inspiring them to grow. Sometimes clawing our way up the hills, and sometimes taking the ride with joy, but always working to make it better. I know it is impossible to attain perfection, but God has given me this wonderful life to make my own, and gave me the power, through him to improve upon myself daily, and although I sometimes suffer with depression, I will always work to improve myself and help others on their journey. With that let's continue with organizing the mess that is my house. Growing in this project and making it flexible enough that I am continuing to make things more efficient without actually effecting the physicality of the structure. We have been approved for a VA loan and are looking for a place of our own. We are still unpacking from prior moves. So condensing and making our house comfortable is still important, but sharing the limelight of our attentions is the endless hours of searching the internet, talking with our real estate agent, and emails. Let's not forget it's band season soon, and within the next month I will be leaving the house to continue my career in call center work outside the home, with an awesome company that helps veterans. The balancing act gets more complicated, and the board of life becomes a little narrower however I have faith that my journey will continue with rich rewards because: "Through God all things are possible."
Today along with laundry I'll be redesigning my master binder. I've made up a new "to do" list and I'll share it and the many sections and individual pages of the binder soon.  For now I had better get to work instead of sitting here putting thoughts to print.

It's been a little while since I've updated my blog, here it goes. Lately I've been concentrating on improving our situation in life. We've been approved for a VA home loan, so now we have to find a house. I have been offered a job, doing something I love (helping people) for more money than I make now, better benefits, and advancement opportunities! God is good! The garden is taking a lot of our extra time, the weeds are growing big and strong! Can't wait for the veggies to start offering up their bounty. I have several tasks on the back burner, and I need a bigger stove! I still have to finish some of my gardening decorations, I have flowers still in their temporary store containers, I have a carpet cleaner sitting in my dining room full of yucky dirty water, and a grumpy husband because apparently I lack inspiration in the cooking department. I sure would appreciate some input there.
On the bright side, I have recently completed editing the next installment of the Bekka of Thorns Chronicles. What an awesome young readers series this is. I love Steve Shilstones imagination! Learn about this great kids series at wildchild publishing. Now I'm working on judging some really good books and I'll have more info on that later. Have a wonderful day y'all! Talk to ya soon!

Bedroom Closet Solution for Renters

 

The problem with my closet is, instead of one long bar at normal heighth and a shelf which I could have worked with. The landlord hung two bars, one about shirt heighth off the floor and the other up so high I had to get on a step stool to hang shirts. Dresses, even the shorter ones of todays style did not fit on either bar. So what do you do? I went online and starting looking up closet organization systems. I really wanted just a plain old set of shelves and 3 bars, 2 on one side for shirts/pants and 1 on the other for longer items. They run a respectable $150 or so for fairly decent ones. Now this is where my husbands voice of reasons starts entering my brain. We live in a rental, so anything I spend of course I would like to take with me when I leave. Therefore, those cute little closet organizers are out of the question. Walking up and down the aisles of my close favorite one stop shopping place I stumbled across those cheapy metal shelves. I wonder..... Ok, there was a chrome bakers set of 5 shelves. You know the ones you see in Sears now in the kitchen area. Chrome is cool, you wouldn't need to dust it very oven because it was very open and airy. Price can't be beat ringing in at a nice $59.99. Size was a little bigger than what I wanted but shoot, my closet is 9 ft wide, I can give up a little space for some nice shelving. Sitting just a few feet away were the cheaper version of "Gorilla" shelves. They're heavier duty, work wonderfully in the garage or basement, and $10 cheaper. This would work! Afterwards when we find a house this one can go just about anywhere. So I picked up this shelf, and knew the next stop was containers. I opted for the cheapy steralite ones, (8) shoe boxes, (3) 6 qt, (2) sweater boxes later and I was skipping to the register with a system that would look nice and cost less than $100. Check it out for yourself! The only thing you have to remember is, if your leaving the bars in the closet during this reorganization, you need to assemble the shelving inside the closet. ;)




I even tackled the problem of not having
 any closet doors.
 

Top rack houses coats and seasonal clothing
items, bottom rack is my shirts.

The second closet in my bedroom had all shelves and since I needed more room to hang things in the bigger closet since I took up all the room with the shelves, I decided to put my husbands shirts in the smaller one. So, I removed all the shelves but two, using the top one as the hanger, and the bottom one for misc items such as overalls, and thick bulky sweaters he never wears.

Quick summertime timeout is over! Game ON!

So had to take a little while off to tend my beautiful daughters graduation. It turned out wonderful and thank you to all who were able to come, and those who sent well wishes. I appreciate my family, blood relatives and extended you are all terrific!
Putting away the empty bowls, leftover decorations in anticipation of Cody's graduation in 2 years, and trying to find all the stuff that I stashed in out of the way nooks and crannies around the house. (if I can remember them all)
Time to straighten up my closets that I worked so hard on. Remember that when you do a major reorganizing project that it's important to go back, straighten it up and maybe change what's not working.
I'm finding that I'm really not too happy about spending more of my check on healthcare and getting mediocure service at the doctors office. I think we all need to stand up against that famous reschedule in 3 months and seriously asking if it's necessary. You'll get the weirdest look from the doctor, but then really they don't know how to answer it. If medically there is something that they need to check in 3 months than by all means do it. However, if, like me, you have an issue that they can't really help with (tremors) and they just want to know if you want to be medicinally treated or if it gets worse then don't waste your money.

Here is the dragonfly I made for the "Restore" what a great place to get craft supplies!
 

So I went to the local Restore by Habitat for Humanity here and talked to the manager about craft ideas. I asked if I had a good idea if I could run it by him and he liked it, then he would supply me with enough items to make two, then I'd bring one back to him for the store to display. He loved the idea and this is the first thing I made for him. Now I have to finish a pet bed out of a drawer! With the weather being so great though I've been working outside a lot, trying to save on money in the long run from our veggie garden.
The garden is just about complete, there are some plants that need replaced and a few more empty spots to fill but it's getting close. Now weeding is a completely different subject, we'll be doing that until well into harvest. What a great workout every other day or more! I'm forever asking friends, would you like to come over and do some squats and finger dexterity exercises? Alas, none take me up on it, but I'm ok with that because this chick is going to have awesome glutes and one heck of a tan by the end of summer.
The beginning of the summer has seen the death of some of our beautiful chickens, I'm sorry to report we are down to eleven. The coyotes are absolutely horrible this year and I am putting a chicken tractor into the planning phase. Along with that project I need to add to my honey do list a compost bin made out of pallets and a chile roaster for harvest. If any of you have ideas shoot me a message.
Still at the top of my list is getting closer to God because I believe that a closer relationship to him and our own development into caring, kind, and loving people is the reason we're here. With that I bid you farewell for now. Until next time! 
Take care all.

This is going to be a real quick post to show some friends of mine my version of some stuff I found on pinterest. I have detailed pictures of the progress from start to finish that I will post in a later blog. But here they are, enjoy!

  This trellis was shown in Lowe's Creative magazine but on a grander and much more expensive scale. This one is a miniture that cost me about $10 the paint I already had on hand.

The topsy turvey planter I found on pinterest and had a blast making. The colors I think will really pop once all my flowers start blooming this summer.

 

Spring cleaning or succomb to the throes of malay?

Hello friends, I'm back on track again. It seems as if my life goes in and out like the tide along the shores of Lake Michigan. I'm jamming along getting things accomplished then all of a sudden something gets me off track then before you know it a week later I'm going, "What the heck happened?" This time, however, I know exactly what happened. My cousins wedding was last weekend! Oh boy, oh boy, what a shindig it was. My feet still hurt from those heels I wore. Congrats Justin and Jamie!
It looks as though the weather will keep me from my walk/run today but as I have some errands to run I'm good with it.
I really have to attack some boxes before Friday to clean out some old kitchen items for the silent auction at the craftathon at church. Then after that I'll be able to return to posting my projects.
If any of you have any helpful hints on Graduation Party Planning, can you leave a comment please. Ter's graduation is coming fast and I have to get some plans in the works.
Meanwhile found some really cool planter projects that I'm in the midst of, here's some pics to inspire you, springs upon us!


cheapy pots from Big Lots!



After a few modifications.

I was looking for some urn pots for in front of the door and really didn't want to spend $20 a piece for ones I was pretty sure were way too big for my porch. Then an idea hit me and I ran with it. Total cost for 4 pots was less then $10 a piece, paint and bolts I already had. WAAALAAA  custom urn pots! $6.98/ea for little trees and I have the beginnings of a really nice looking front door.

Interpretting Lifes Instruction Manual III

The Third and last installment of my Interpretation of what I believe to be key to developing as a christian. I pull direction straight from the bible, here is the quote again. "For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 5-8
I have completed quick researches of the key words in the bible, and certainly there are other quotes of scripture to explain the qualities talked about by Peter. Persevere to do research, add to your knowledge, and grow in the name of the Lord. The last of these qualities are godliness(little "g"), brotherly kindness, and love. For godliness we can really get in to some debate, for we should never place ourselves equal to God, nor above our fellow man/woman. I think that we should not focus on developing perfection. However, we should walk our christian walk as Jesus and to the best of our ability. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. That doesn't mean that we should just give up and not try. We wash our cars because they get dirty, knowing that they will get dirty again and need to be rewashed. The same goes for many things in our life, our houses, our bodies, our animals. This is true of our spiritual selves as well. As we try to live godly lives we sin, (get dirty) and need to be washed (forgiven) over and over. We learn the basics of what sin is and hopefully we develop and learn  to not repeat them, as we grow we notice other nuances in life that the Holy Spirit draws our attention to and labels as sin. Godly is defined as conforming to the laws and wishes of God, it does not mean placing ourselves up on a pedestal and acting better than anyone else. If therefore, you are conforming to the laws and wishes of God, then you will be working on brotherly kindness. Brotherly kindness I believe is going through this short life of ours and paying attention to others. I drive my family absolutely nuts, talking to strangers all the time. How else are you suppose to give brotherly kindness unless your paying attention to your brother? If he has fallen, help him up, if she is struggling offer a helping hand. Just go through life not with your head down racing to the finish line, but with your eyes open, looking, watching. Then there's love. John instructs, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." 1John 4:7 Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" John 13:34 Stearn warnings from the bible if you do not abide by this principle, "If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." 1John 4:20
All these principles that are talked about by Peter are guidelines we should instill in all our lives. I want to add to them in increasing measure every day of my life. I am not a perfect person, far from it in fact. I sin daily, I trip, I fall, I get back up and keep on going. It is imperative that we do not quit! For even as Jesus carried the cross and stumble he kept going, and he was headed to death! We can have peace and joy here on Earth. Upon receiving it though, we need to spread it out to others, "Give as freely as you have received!" Matthew 10:8.  If we try to  simple things everyday to improve upon them, we can't help but add them in increasing measure. Personally I want to walk my walk closer to God, he's got AWESOME plans for all of us. Have a wonderful Easter and may we all be renewed in the spirit as we delve deeper into our lives.
Thanks for letting me put thought to blog, and thanks for reading.

Interpretting Lifes Instruction Manual II

I'm trying to interpret, and work out in my own mind, basic instructions that Peter gave us. I believe this is the foundation of how we are to go about fulfilling our purpose, and growing as a Christian. I quote the scripture that caused a "light bulb" moment, and then break it down referencing other scripture to understand it better.
"For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 5-8

Self-Control, whew that's a difficult one. It's the one thing that as an imperfect human being I lack greatly and that covers a broad range of areas in my life. I smoke, I consume some alcohol, I'm overweight, I cry for different reasons at the drop of a hate, I am quick to anger at different times, on different issues. I can't control my tongue and often say the wrong thing. It seems this may be something that you do learn in increasing measure with age, as long as you can identify that whatever it is that you have an impulse issue with is a problem that needs to be worked on. I am working on the food issue now. I've found that there's certain foods that adversely effect my body and therefore must be avoided. There's soda, I've quit drinking that even in the face of an obvious addiction. I'm working on smoking less, quitting eventually. Self-control, is keeping your house neat instead of flopping down in front of the tv, maybe filtering the types of shows you watch. Spending too much, using profanity, being lazy, working too hard, being too silent. These are all things that we can control ourselves. So what does the bible say about self-control. My favorite verse is this one; "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with temptation he also will provide a way of escape, that you will be able to endure it." 1 Corinthians 10-13. Training for a 5k, one cannot ignore this one; "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. Let us live our lives, striving to be better and resisting evil.
The desires of our fragile human bodies can lead to a "back sliding" if we have no self-control. So once we have begun to mastered self-control we must continue on, or persevere. I say begin because it's a never ending process. I am in the middle of several self-control projects. Very much like my craft hobbies, always starting one before finishing another while in the middle of a third and completing the fourth. It's definitely never boring, I often wonder if I have some ADD issues. No one says that you complete one virtue and move on to the next, for that would suggest that you could finish, and finishing would imply perfection which, as long as we inhabit earth we cannot have. Perseverance it is told leads to rewards in heaven. I think this is one of the hardest lessons to learn. To learn it you have to experience pain, persecution, and sometimes loneliness in your life. When I was down and felt like I was being kicked, bruised and beaten it was exhausting, and to hold on was, I thought, impossible. There was a moment where I gave up and turned from God, thinking I did nothing to deserve this, why was I enduring his wrath? Like Peter I took my eyes off God and immediately my solid footing disappeared and I found myself drowning. In hindsight, I had it wrong. God uses adversity to mold my character. Often to get weeds out of the garden we need to til the whole think up, strip it bare of every plant. Then we can sow our seeds in nurturing soil, free from those nutrient sucking weeds. He says, "lean not on your own understanding", so let me draw on the everlasting life giving words of the bible. "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9. And if we can learn perseverance "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12.
So continue on learning, and with your struggles, knowing that He never leaves you. He never stops loving you. Just as those of you who are parents mold your own children, so he molds us. The glorious riches that await us in heaven come at a steep price, that we pay here on earth. Take heed my friends that even though we are his lambs, the evil one waits to try to lay waste upon the herd. "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8
I leave this train of thought with a message to my "health" stars. So as they treat their bodies like temples they don't forget..."For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." 1Timothy 4:8

Interpretting Lifes Instuction Manual

If your anything like the rest of us, then perhaps you felt drawn to God, went to church, were saved, maybe even baptised. Upon returning home you sit down and wonder, well now what. What's it all for, where do I go from here? I know certain truths  in my life, I know that I'm a believer saved by the blood of Jesus, God's son who was sent to die in my place so that I may live an eternal live in heaven. I know that once saved you can't continue on being the same person you were. I know that although there are struggles in life being a Christian, there are also blessings. Life, I do believe, is the most unrandom thing in the universe. Everything is orchestrated, connected and aligned, throw free will in there and whoa momma, tell me again how God isn't awesome. I can't even wrap my mind around how he knows the things he knows. So, there I sit doing my bible study one day, when a most disturbing thought crosses my mind. I am not going to bore you with the details of what the question was or the journey that I took to find the answer. Suffice it to say that it took me the rest of the morning until I was satisfied, and then I stumbled across the most life changing, light bulb moment words I have ever found in this wonderful book. You may think the bible is a bunch of hooey, but in all actuality if you know your history at all, tons of historical facts have been proven through the bible. Let me get back on track before I lose myself in a tangent of evidence. So there it is, the ultimate step by step guide on how to live, and  the order in which to work things out for yourself. My translation quotes it as follows:
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. -2Peter 1:3-8
I have underlined the parts that stood out to me on the day I first read them. Next I will break it down, not  for your benefit, but for mine. For I truly believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me that day and gave to me the key elements for "everything we need for life". I have been on the path to return joy to my life. Somewhere in the hussle and bussle I misplaced it. I questioned why we were here, why we have to go through so many troubles, why we go through pain and hard times. I have always believed that we are put here to serve a purpose, but exactly what that purpose is and how we are to go about finding it and fulfilling it had escaped me. So here we go.
First and foremost you must have faith. Faith that God does exist, that he sacrificed his one and only son so that we might have a relationship with him. Without Jesus we could never be good enough to be with God. The Jewish people have proven that, time and time again. They are his chosen people, the ones that could, if they followed the law exactly, have a wonderful love relationship with him. He has done great things for them, proven that he exists and loves them, and yet, they have fallen short of his holiness.  Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as this, "... faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." The instructions put to words by Peter rely on the fact that you have faith above all else.
Once your faith has been "nailed down" so to speak, then you should build upon it goodness. Don't we all strive to be "good" so that we may be loved. Many christians I know believe wholeheartedly that after you are saved, all you have to do is be good. Their belief in this simple version limits their whole life to the fact that, after goodness what is there? Their theory on life is we are saved, then we're instructed to be good until we go to heaven. There is so much more to life than that, there is so much more to live for. Life is not simply a crap shoot, and then things (good or bad) just happen! He loves us, he created us for his good purpose. To sit idly by and watch life pass, good, bad, whatever is a huge waste of what could be an amazing life! However, it is an important trait. Right up there ranked number two.
After we agree on goodness, we must look at knowledge. What kind of knowledge, you might ask. I theorize that knowledge in the Lord Almighty is the answer. He is The Way after all. Some argue that it is not our place to have His knowledge. I on the other hand think it's hardwired into some of us. Perfection, completely unrealistic here on earth, but practice makes perfect. I think our time on earth is our practice. I decided to ask around a little about knowledge of God. After just a few minutes of research and some picking of brains in my chatroom of friends, I think this could in fact bring up so much debate that I will defer to Peter, who, put the answer right there for us. No way to overthink it if the answers right there. Simply stated, His power gives me everything through my knowledge of him. It's right there, it's a promise. You see, God is a creator, that's what he does. He didn't simply create the universe, world, everything in it and then call it quits. John 5:17 - But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working still, and I am working." Back to this "step"; knowledge of him... I think, knowledge of him is something we need to develop. It's a close and loving relationship to him. Not as a child desires knowledge of their parent, but as a spouse desires knowledge of their soulmate. We simply cannot and do not know everything about our other half, everyday we learn new things about them. We develop, we change, we adapt, and we thirst for knowledge. I concede that I do not know everything about God, my husband, my children, my parents. The only ones that I will ever get close to having full knowledge of is  my husband (because I have a lifetime to get to know him, and my God(because I have a lifetime and more to get to know him.) The difference is my husband grows and changes daily. My God is unchanging, but infinite. Maybe this is the reason the bible references the bridegroom, because our love is neverending and unquenchable for our soulmate and it is easier to equate a passionate desire for God this way. Don't get me wrong, I love my children, my friends, my family, but my husband is a constant in my life for as long as we both shall live.
And to this knowledge I will practice self-control, and cut this post short so that I may achieve some domestic goals. Until next time.

Continuing my Operation Organization!

After weeks of organizers block (akin to writers block) I have my next project.
I've been wanting to do my pantry for weeks, so with my husband out on a job for a little while, I'm attacking it! 
  

Before, what a mess!


 

Just keep a'piling



 




















After: an organized pantry! Minus the paint job and cool matching containers I think it looks mucho better.

I used the template from http://www.dogsdonteatpizza.com/, Thanks Karen for somehow having the same pantry layout. Mine's just the mini version. Then started putting things where they would fit for me. The hardest part was moving the last shelf, and all those little canned goods. All in all I think it took be about 2.5 hours.  I still have some decorative elements I'd like to do but those are projects for another day. 

Tonight, I'm still thinking but perhaps I'll attack the bedroom closets.



It's a new week, it's a new you!

What a wonderful day it is today! I woke up with a grateful heart, went to the Y at 5:30 am, successfully completed my week 5 part I on podrunners 1day to 5k. Love that DJ Beatsmith! If you're just starting out on it, I can guarantee that if you push yourself through week 4 and succeed, there's no stopping you! I feel wonderful for the first time in a long time. Almost normal. The rest of this post is a little personal and I am sorry for the graphic detail, that may prove just tmi for some people. However, I feel it is important. For the last 5 yrs I suffered with diarrhea symptoms, almost everyday for 5 years! The doctor tried to put me on cholesterol medicine I didn't need, because a common side effect was the opposite of the symptoms I was experiencing. Not once did the man suggest I change my diet, not once did he even try to send me to a specialist. This is the health care we routinely receive in America's rural communities. Through lots of research and talking openly with friends, I decided to try changing my diet. ( Thank you Charleen!)  I cut out flour, and sugar. Absolutely no gluten allowed, (cornflour is ok) and no processed sugar. Some (not a lot) sugar substitute is ok, honey and maple is ok too(not the cheap store ones that's not real maple syrup). 3 weeks now, and no symptoms!!! I feel like a new woman I tell ya! The next thing I tackled immediately was the itchies, every time I got out of the shower I was attacked with itching all over, severe burning itch me now kind of itching. Some suggested no fragrance body soap, ok, tried that, still itching. Then I was googling, Why do I itch when I get out of the shower, ...kind of a last ditch effort, and ran across an article on SLS. I'm not going to rant on here, but if you've ever experienced that mind blowing itching all over you may want to google SLS also. The stuff is horrible, and it's in every soap we use. Shower gel, shampoo, toothpaste you name it. What's really bad and I will share this, what it does to lab rats is unreal. From hair loss to cancer! Manufacturers know this but they keep using it in our products! You can find products without it but you have to read the label. Today's lesson, read the labels!!! For God's sake, act as if your life depends on it, because at some point it will. If I have found out one thing it's that as we age apparently we are more susceptible to what we put in and on our bodies. Stop letting companies get away with sending us straight to the doctor who in turn does his/her part to support the pharmaceuticals but putting us on unneeded medications! Take your life into your own hands and educate yourself! I love you all too much to see you suffer like I have and not say anything. Until next time, get healthy and stay that way. GET UP AND MOVE PEOPLE! Don't be .....like this....

Morrow Challenge

Good Day everyone! I hope this finds you all well. I spent a wonderful weekend with family. You know sometimes when we get together with family members we don't get to see on a regular weekly basis, we have a tendency to scrutinize. I believe it's time to challenge my family. I have been looking at them with Papa's eyes the last few family functions I have attended. Family meant everything to him. My grandfather was not a rich man, and as a parent he made mistakes, but let me tell you as a grandfather, he could do no wrong. Back in the day we would gather together for holidays, birthdays, everyone's birthdays...not just close relatives, I don't remember a lot of friends being at my birthdays, but I do remember everyone in my family being there. The cousins were close then, we would go over to grandma's and play together. Spend all day Christmas there. Oh how I love them all. Well as time goes, I grew up, joined the Navy, moved away, and everyone grew up. We grew a little distanced after 20 years, who wouldn't? We all have our own families, jobs, in-laws families, but I'm going to put in my plea to the Morrows especially. Don't  go through life saying, I don't have time, I have to do something else. We are blood, we need each others love and support. When there's a family function and there's advance notice, suck it up, take the day off if you have to, and let's get together, and show grandpa that we still love and respect each other. Even if we raise our kids different or have different lifestyles. Unconditional love that's what you get in a family. It's a small amount of time to give to each other to show our children that ...when things happen in life we can depend on family. We can listen to each others gripes, we can lean on each other for support, we can pray for each other, we can take what we're good at and lead by example. Best of all, we can share moments of joy, happiness, and love, there is just so little of that now adays. Love each other, take time for each other. I have been gone too long but I we are all the same people we once were deep down. Aunt's, uncles, cousins, in-laws or not, if you are tied to a Morrow, you are family. This year let's work on rebuilding those family ties. Birthday parties, cookouts, holidays, showers, graduations. If I was closer, I would say the occassional football game, choir concert, play.

On a side note, with Jamie's and Justins shower complete, now it's time to buckle down and train for this 5k. I have been eating a flour free, and sugar free diet and my digestive symptoms are subsiding. If your struggling with arthritis pain, fibromyalgia, or any kind of digestion problems try eliminating these two things from your diet, and keep a log of how you feel. It's a success so far for me and the more research I do on the subject the more I'm disgusted at how the doctors seem to miss telling you this.

Ashley "Tobin" I am also putting that beautiful angel of yours quilt at the top of my list this week. Don't want her to be getting it on her graduation. Jennifer, I'll be doing Ruby's next! Oh what beautiful babies you all have.  Melissa, you too! Go see Randee she has some left behind Christmas gifts for yours. Sorry we missed you this weekend.

Love to all of you! And may God bless this project of mind, I definately believe it's a God-sized task. Have a wonderful day. Until next time.

Shifting Gears

1st Gear
Well I know you have noticed by now that I'm not exactly following along with posting all my organizing helpful hints like I wanted to. This is a direct product of someone who has lost the ability to do organizing, trying to help others, and failing at their feeble attempt to gain some of that skill back. Yep, I call it like I see it, even when it comes to myself.
2nd Gear
Today's rant is brought to you by our wonderful medical society. I don't have much faith in doctors these days. Seems all they want to do is write you prescriptions and treat symptoms instead of looking for the cause. For instance, I just heard yesterday that a gluten free/sugar free diet will alleviate the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Is it true? If it is why don't doctors first tell you to try that instead of giving you pain relievers? I'm on the horizon of a new dawn, and will keep you updated. The side effect of eating like this is not as long as the side effects possible with medicines. It may, alleviate symptoms, cause weight loss, lower blood pressure, raise metabolism, causing weight loss. I'm sure they're many others, I will keep you posted.
3rd Gear
I really am not in a hurry to do my taxes. We set everything up so that the government does not get any of our money for no interest. Which means...you guessed it sometimes we owe a little, some times we get a little back, most times we owe state and get a federal refund.
4th Gear
Trying to train for this 5k is killing me! I tried running 2 days so far this week and had to cut it down to a walk, my leg muscles are not cooperating at all and scream in pain the entire time that I'm on the treadmill. Today, I don't have anything planned at all, maybe if it gets quiet for a little bit, I bust out some crunches, push ups, squats, and whatever else I can think of while no one's home. ;)
5th Gear
Bible study went good! Much better then yesterday. Powered through most of it before I even went to work. This lesson's really hard to digest and I'm thinking maybe God just wants me to be open minded, learn it and file the knowledge away for future use. I succeeded at obeying and dropped popping bubbles on fbook in order to pick up my bible and read what God wanted me to learn today. God is good! My prayer shawl from Mom wraps me in love and prayers first thing in the morning and helps motivate me to get the rest of my day rolling! Thanks Mom!
May all my readers and friends have a terrifically blessed day!

Oh my! I'm a step-grandmother! Congrats to Aline and her hubby, and to all the other people in our family who are blessed with this new addition!
Axel Lewis, welcome to this beautiful world, may you always feel the love of  God shine on your perfect face!
My only advice to the new parents, remember a child is God's blessing to you. Don't be afraid, because as long as you let God guide you, you cannot fail as a parent.

As we prepare to say good-bye to another February, I pause to enjoy the winter weather, do taxes, work on my Love relationship with my God, my spouse, and my family. I hope you have love in your life, that's what it's all about. Love God first, and don't forget to love yourself. No matter what you look like, or how you feel inside, He loved you first. He created you perfectly unique, and God doesn't make mistakes. Don't listen to what others say about you or to you. You are Loved my friends. Virtual Hugs. Be ever increasing your knowledge, and always have a goal.

Today just well might become my "someday"

Someday, I'll go back to eating healthy. Someday, I'll get more organized. Someday I'll...
Are you like me? Do you have a list of things that you need to do in your life? With each passing year my list is getting longer. I've decided to do a little set of miniseries blogs on some of mine. So I have broken my list down into the major categories first.
HEALTH
WEALTH
HOME
Seems a bit sparse, but then you think of the first category and start adding.
HEALTH: Spriritual, & Body
WEALTH: Financial Peace
HOME: Organization.
Okay, now we're getting somewhere.
HEALTH: Spritual. What do you believe? Do you study it daily? If you don't know what you believe, I would like to suggest you read a bible. Not sure if it's a real history or not? Do the research for yourself. I believe in order for your body to be healthy your mind has to be healthy. Meditation is a good place to start. Some of my favorite life improvement sites are here: Biblegateway,  Project Meditation. I challenge you to take a look inside yourself are areas in your life overflowing and others seriously lacking? Awonderful explanation of this philosophy I found in John Gray's book, "How To Get What You Want and Want What You Have." I have to say though my favorite self help guru has got to be my homeboy, Detroit's own, Dr Wayne Dyer. You can catch a lot of really helpful insights when he's on PBS's fund drive.
   Body. This is the real focus of my "Today is the day" attitude. I have been stuck at the same weight for over a year now, and I'm not liking that at all. I run/walk 2x a week now. I own a "Biggest Loser" DVD and WII game. IT'S TIME TO BREAK OPEN THE SEAL! I'm going to find and revamp my binder paying special attention to the "Fitness" section. There's two things you can do if somethings not working, throw it out and start over, or send it in for a complete overhaul. I'm doing just that. Friday I posted links to two of my favorite sites for motivation and tips and here they are again. Podrunner, Hasfit, and I'll add another one Body for Life. How can any of us think that we can just keep going like the energizer bunny if we don't have full batteries to begin with.
So I'm going to leave you today with those little tidbits. The "Binder" I spoke of is my master plan of everything in my life. It's an organizational tool I use to use regularly that I'm revamping to help with "Operation Organization" and I'll be back soon with ideas on the "Fitness" section. Body for life has some wonderful printables in their tools section also. So remember this a blurp from hasfit, "There are 7 days in the week and someday isn't one of them."
Have a wonderfully blessed day my friends!

Have a wonderful weekend.

A quick catchup, I have been busy. Work is crazy, getting up at 2 am, working til 4 or 4:30. Too bad I don't get paid better, and too bad those hours have gaps in between. I'm exhausted! I'm training for a 5k in May (I think). Color Run Ypsilanti! Yesterday, I did interval training walk/run 2.97 miles in 50 mins. I do better every time, faster, stronger. I am dedicated this time around. I have to prove to myself I can do this. God doesn't want me moping around because I don't like my body. I found two wonderful websites to help the process along. Inspiring quotes and aspirations, and keeping the beat!



HASFIT.COM

PODRUNNER

So have a great weekend. Get inspired to do great things. I'm going to a woman's overnighter tonight at church. Fun with friends that I don't get to hang out with very often. We'll get back to doing more organizing, and transforming to being more healthy on Monday. Not to say that I'm going to quit for the weekend. But I will be out enjoying myself and not sitting in front of the computer.

Thursday Special

Order up! Thursday is brought to you by the one who loves you! Unconditionally, irrevocably and for eternity. Whether you believe in Him concerns Him not, for He believes in you. He is the great "I am". With faith all things are possible, and the fact that we are created in his image...is mind boggling. He doesn't like when bad things happen to good people, but without them would we have any type of character at all? Bad things have happened to me and good things have happened to me and great things have happened to me and the culmination of all these things has made me who "I am". He, is not done with me yet and for this I am thankful. Thankful to witness the great with the minuscule, the key to enjoying this life is simple in all actuality. I didn't think so for the longest time. It's hard to see beauty when you're going through trials. To stumble during trials is exhausting, and depressing. You must keep your head up and your eyes open. If your searching but you don't know what for, turn your eyes and your heart to Him, and He will show you what you need. Be ever thankful, teach yourself to say thank you. As a part of "The Secret" the author says to start your day with gratitude. Upon waking when your first foot hits the floor, "Thank" with the second foot, "you". As you repeat this mantra everyday, you start to feel it more throughout the day. You may not mean it those first few days if your buried deep in depression, but patience and mercy to you. Keep repeating, "Thank you."  Thank you for the crisp breeze that hit my face this morning and sucked the air out of my lungs for it let me know that I'm alive! Thank you for finding the dime on the ground for it is abundance. If your thankful for the little things, you will be surprised to find He will bestow upon you greater things.
I lost the ability to be thankful a while back. I had abundance, and boy did I live like I had more. Then as I wasn't thankful for every little thing, everything started to disappear. My "stuff", my health, my happiness, all gone. Depression and self medication habits set in. The pain wouldn't go away. I looked toward different self help books, and learned a lot in the process. The one book that held the key though is the one I wasn't reading. It's all in there, every helpful hint, everything you want to know and even a lot of things you don't. The Bible. Find a well translated version that is easy to understand, that would be my suggestion. There are many ways to read it. You can read it in a devotional sequence, where each day you learn something different many times depending on where you are in your life. I, not knowing where to begin, followed my heart and started at the beginning. Then as I read more, I started jumping around. Googling bible quotes on different subjects and instead of reading just that one verse sometimes reading the whole chapter or book that contained it. I found that the less I had the more thankful for things I became. The more thankful I was the more God gave me. I didn't just wake up and say, "Thank you." anymore I really meant it. Just last weekend I started to feel loved again. The overwhelming God given love that we are all supposed to feel all the time. I don't mean loved by a person, I'm lucky I have that all the time, but when your in the midst of depression that love doesn't penetrate the walls you build around yourself. You have to delve deep within yourself and find Gods love. I'm sure it's out there for each one of us. We all must travel that path, and travel it alone. For even if we're surrounded by loved ones, unless we're happy and feel loved by God; learning to love ourselves we will never be fulfilled. We are each and everyone of us a beautiful individual on the inside. For we are made in his image, so how can we not be wonderful and perfect. Don't let the mean things that comes out of others mouths bring you down, for they mean nothing, and most of the time it's a lie brought on by their own insecurity and pain.
I am, done for today. I'll get off my soapbox. On I must go completing things that need completing, tomorrow I will be creative.  Let me leave you with a message. I am glad that you came to read my blog. I am positive something is changing in your life. Above all know that you are loved, as you are now, and as the person you are on the road to becoming.
-Namaste

30 days of motivation!

I want to offer up a 30 day challenge. My 45th Anniversary of being on this planet has come and gone! I am okay with who I am. I like myself, but I could stand with some improvements. So, I'm going to challenge myself to become someone new. I love myself, but I want to be more. So, I'm going to challenge myself to become someone new. The road to someplace different means you need to change the direction your heading in. Tip one, when changing your diet patterns instead of saying, you can't (which implies failure) say you don't (which implies dedication). I don't drink soda (diet or otherwise). Tip two, simple physics, "A body in motion stays in motion." Is there a reason you feel drained after sitting for 8 hours in front of the computer? Um, yeah, cause your not doing anything, get up and move around! Did you ever notice when little ones start to get tired and are fighting sleep because they are having so much fun? They refuse to sit still. They bounce, they fidget, the get LOUD, but above all they keep moving. So get LOUD! Bounce around, fidget, tap your foot, do stretches, buy a tall mobile desk if you have to stay in front of your computer. Tip three, supplement. Find out if you have any deficiencies. My chiropractor, Tip three, picture yourself healthy, waaay back in the times of little polka dot bikini's our predecessors told us to glue a picture of our head onto the body of what we want to look like. I say don't do that because vision is so distorted, as is self image. Do, however, picture yourself stretching farther (while your stretching too), running harder, feeling better. Feel yourself healthy, put that picture in your mind. I'm going to stop right there for today, I'm off to do my training for the 5k this spring. The Color Run in Ypsilanti! Can't wait! Peace and Blessings to you my friends.

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday is behind me but I got quite a bit accomplished.

It was my 45th birthday! I still don't know how I feel about this birthday, but I can't do anything about it. It is what it is. Moving on, bowling, something else I have no control over. I'm consistant, that's one thing, consistantly bad. I give it a valiant try non the less. I have some more people interested in silk screened team shirts, so I have to spend some time on some designs today. Promoting the Christian bowling league, how fun is that!

During this weekend, I was able to spend some quality time with family, and anyone with teens knows that's a feat in itself. Finding some time wasn't as challenging as I thought as I was still able to do some odd jobs around the house. Hung a mirror, put some of my bathroom back together. Completed the caulking around the tub and installed some splash guards. Here's the pictures. Remember this was the before:

I don't really know what the day will hold since it's a blizzard outside. But I'm sure it will be packed with lots of stuff.   First "stuff" on the agenda of course is getting ready to teach the decomesh wreath class for the Women's all nighter at Church. Have a safe productive day my friends!

Wild and Wacky Wednesday

Well today is going to be wild indeed! Why, because that's what I want so that's how it's going to be. See how that works? It would have worked the same had I said, "Oh man, it's only Wednesday, what a crappy day." Now that I think of it, why do we always say, time flies when your having fun, by the laws of attraction wouldn't that make the day go quicker? How bout, the day is dragging? Why would you want a slow day to go slower? So if it seems like a day is dragging on why not make it fun. How perfect would that be? A perfectly slow, fun day. Try it some time, when you're having a blast, try saying, "Wow, this day couldn't go any slower." ;) Now on with the list for today.



Operation Organization Day 5:



Just to let you know, I have not been slacking. Monday I spent all day working, then scraping the bathroom ceiling. There were horrible ugly discolored cracks in the plaster above the tub,



BEFORE





AFTER

and Chris (Landlord) said he'd get if fixed. 

Let me say,"WOW" That was fast. Tuesday the painter arrived, was impressed that I did such a thorough job, and went to work. By the end of the day, the mess was cleaned, and the trim back up. So today would probably be a good day to clean and organize something in the bathroom. First on the agenda is the bathtub caulking. How's yours looking? This is a job that unfortunately needs to be done every few years in an older house. The better the job, the longer it lasts. I'm getting pretty good at it too. Did the cabin up north last year, spent a good hour scraping and digging, then used the precaulked bathtub trim. That stuff is pretty neat, but I don't think that's a product Chris wants me to use here. So old fashioned way it is. Here's the before shot.

 As this is a job you can't rush, tomorrow will have post the after shot. By doing a little research here's a link to where you can find quick tips on how to do it. There's tons of howto's out there but I found +Ron Hazelton to be the best video. Shows how to do it quickly and correctly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XIf0deyzx4

 Make sure while you in the bathroom to check the fan for dust. Go through you medicine cabinet and toss expired meds. Don't flush them please, some pharmacies will take them from  you and dispose of them, or crush them up mix in coffee grounds and put in the trash.



In the "D"

Well that's it, today wraps up the holiday season for us. All the Christmas clearance is over, my house is put away. At Aunt Tracey's, Lynn and Mitchs. Looking forward to seeing the whole family. Babies are getting bigger, little ones are turning into young adults, young adults are getting wiser. Life is good. Running to the mall to exchange some things. Missing Aunt Randee and John. Hope they're having fun in Utah. Yesterday we went through Aunt Tracey's wrapping paper and organized it a little for her. Getting more ideas for the blog next week. If you have any leave me a comment. I'm wanting to go through the chemicals in my house and clean them out. I have two areas under the sink and in the basement. Have to expend my plan a little and make a weekly list. Making lists is helpful, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.
So, enjoy the weekend. Be safe and picture posting is the first order of business on Monday!

Oops stuck on Day 4

So needless to say I got a little behind. You see I was in the kitchen looking at my drawer, and wondering hopelessly how to rearrange it due to it's weird curved bottom, ...yep still lost, I'll post pics Monday, meanwhile, going to clean off the top of the fridgerator and scrub it down. Have a good weekend everyone!

Operation Organization: Day 4

Operation Organization: Day 4

Today would be a great day to clean out the silverware drawer and fridge! Take a bath towel and dump your silverware tray onto it so you can scrub that sucker clean. How does a drawer that stores clean utensils get so dirty? If needed replace the drawer liner. There's some great alternatives to dollar store drawer organizers. Check out these ideas!

Lowe's Kitchen Organizer

Ikea drawer organizer

You can also go to your local hardware store and by some wood and do your own cuts if your handy. Handy I am, but short on disposable cash is also a trait I possess. So, check out this really low cost solution I found on pinterest! This person is oh, so organized. I can't wait to attain her neatness!

http://squarepennies.blogspot.com/2012/09/10-ways-to-organize-small-kitchen.html

For now be content with a quick drawer clean, toss out the stuff that got lost in the back that you forgot you had. (If you've done without it this long, chances are it's not that useful a tool.) Check that puppy off your list. A quick wipedown of shelves in the fridge and toss out yucky food. Trash day is tomorrow! While your at it might as well scrub down the outside real quick as well. There's a pile of cookbooks on top that need to be stowed!

So quick recap on what I've got accomplished so far. (and just a side note, but it's a wonder anyone reads this mess, definately a little scatterbrainedness going on here) I can see by my previous posts that I may have wandered slightly, and my opion is so far, organized, this project of a more organized life is not. But hey, it's a work in progress, how many blogs have I read that give me a step by step, I fall behind and then scrap the whole idea all together? Also, none of my projects will be extensive, as we are renters. Or as my awesome landlord calls us, homeowners that rent. I say awesome, because I owe him a few kudos. He's done a lot for this little house and us lately. Installed natural gas, so no more propane bill. Installed a new septic system. Went out last night and bought a router for our internet, and is sending a painter over to fix the ceiling in the bathroom. Great guy he is! I don't know how I can be so blessed, what more can a girl ask for. A wonderful husband that knows and does whatever needs doing when I can't (cooking, cleaning, laundry are all part of his repertoire), absolutely wonderful, basically trouble free, christian children (er, young adults), cool as cucumbers neighbors/landlord. Blessed! Like I said. Ok, Jack, reelling it back in here. Back on track... recap... right. Okay, so we have the house deChristmas'd until next year. Everything is stripped bare at the moment, awaiting my design talents to kick in. I have a blueprint of what I want to accomplish and approximately how long each project will take me. A quick cleaning is all I have accomplished so far, nothing too detailed. Tera must have read my blog because she did her clothes all on her own. (Great job sweetie!)  I haven't bought any spacebags yet, will be swinging by the store later to check it out. Getting a handle on all these clothes is a little daunting, and may take a little more time then what I had anticipated. So I'll break it off into smaller chunks to be accomplished with an appropriate deadline. Working on an actual written plan that I can share here. A smaller "definately will be able to do in a day" project is on the agenda for the day, along with 10 hours of work, chiropractor appointment, and quick stop shopping trip. Yesterday I was able to do my day one return to training for a 5k workout. One mile, 20 mins. Gotta start somewhere.

Today I want to say, when you're out and about in life, smile. One simple act of kindness can mean the world to someone you don't even know. May the love of God shine through you and around you all day my friend. Have a great one!